Adding Catalog Items

You may submit items of official LEGO release to the reference catalog if you are a registered BrickLink member. Items may be submitted for addition to the catalog on the Catalog Add or Change page. Select the type of item you want to add in the Add Item section on that page.

Official - Some items are defined as official using rules particular to BrickLink. Please familiarize yourself with those rules, many of which are given below. An item designed and created by an individual, often referred to as a MOC (My Own Creation), should not be submitted to the catalog.
Some items that are not official LEGO products but were available for sale through LEGO Shop at Home or in LEGO retail stores may be included in the catalog.

Approval - To ensure that the reference catalog contains only correct items, all submissions by BrickLink members are subject to review and approval by a Catalog Administrator. If the item is disapproved, it is deleted from the catalog.

Upload Image - Item and image submissions are accomplished separately, with different pages of BrickLink. You do not need to wait for a submitted item to be approved and in the catalog before you submit images for it. You do not need to be the item's submitter. The item must simply have been submitted before any image upload is possible. We encourage image submission to follow as soon as possible after item submission because an image can help Catalog Administrators evaluate the item submission. For more information on submitting images, see Adding Images.

Item Names - Please see Item Name for general information on this. Other guidelines may be found below.

Item Numbers - Please see Item Number for information on this. Please familiarize yourself with the numbering conventions of the catalog. The BrickLink system does not automatically provide the next sequential number for any item. BrickLink search functions may be used to determine the next available number in a sequence. Submissions with numbers grossly out of range from similar items or numbers incorrectly derived from another site may be summarily disapproved.

Credits - The Catalog Credits page lists all members who have contributed approved items to the catalog. Click any of the names to see a list of items they have submitted.

Guidelines for adding items to the catalog:

Category names in Part names - The BrickLink system does not automatically add the category name text to your submitted part name text. Please type this in yourself when appropriate. For some Part categories, the category name is not included in the part name. Please familiarize yourself with the naming conventions of the catalog.

Color names in Part names - A color name should not be the first word or words in the part name. When a Seller lists a part for sale, they select the color that will show as the first word or words in the part name when it is displayed in the store. The syntax of all part names must take this into account. Color names describing a pattern on a part should match the Color Guide names established for part materials as closely as possible. That means pattern colors should be matched as closely as possible to material colors. Do not abbreviate color names in any way unless absolutely necessary to fit your submission name in the space allotted. Color names should be capitalized and punctuated as shown in the Color Guide. Exceptions to these rules are determined only at administrative discretion.

Stickered parts - A part with sticker applied to it in a manner inconsistent with official LEGO set instructions or images should not be added to the catalog. Stickered parts in the catalog should reflect the use that LEGO intended and showed for the sticker, with regard to the type, vintage, and color of the part the sticker is applied to. When submitting a stickered part to the catalog, the set it is from should be indicated. Inclusion of this information will expedite the item's approval and without it the submission may be rejected.

Stickers as Item Type Part or Gear - Stickers included with a set that are not intended by LEGO to be affixed to any part(s) in the set should be added as the Item Type of Gear and not as Part. Examples of such stickers include the red circle with white number in small promotional sets, and images of Bionicle Rahkshi in some Bionicle sets.

Color combinations for part assemblies - Assembly components can have variable colors. One of the colors is selectable by the seller when they add parts into their shop inventory. Catalog entries for the color variations should generally be added for the color that has the fewest possible variations. For example, This Part can have several colors for the Base but the Top currently comes only in Light Gray. So the entry in the catalog for the Complete Assembly would specify the Top color while the Base color is selected by the seller. If the Complete Assembly became available with a Light Bluish Gray Top, there should be 2 entries in the catalog, one for the Complete Assembly with Light Gray Top and one for the Complete Assembly with Light Bluish Gray Top.

Minifigs - The catalog should only contain minifigs that came in an official LEGO set or that can be attributed to an official LEGO program, display, activity or event, regardless of whether the minifig is actually publicly distributed during or at such program, display, activity or event.

The minifig item should not include hand-held accessories or items defined as utensils, with the exception of robot winder keys. But do include all other accessories definable as footgear (flippers, snow shoes, etc.), neckgear (generally defined as items requiring the removal of the head in order to be placed over the neck, such as capes, armor, backpacks, etc.) and headgear (hair, helmets, etc.), and assembled parts serving as such, when these are shown attached to the minifig in official LEGO set instructions. For instructions with images showing the minifig in a play scenario, refer only to the portion of the instructions concerned with assembling the minifig. If no official instructions were produced, then illustrations on packaging or other marketing materials directly related to the minifig may be used instead for this guide purpose. (See Exceptions below.)

Minifigs decorated by a sticker may have an entry for the figure without the sticker applied, and an entry for the figure with the sticker applied. (See Exceptions below.)

If 2 or more minifigs that came in an official LEGO set are the same except for different hand-held accessories, do not add another entry for a minifig with a particular accessory. An example of this would be "Majisto the Wizard with glow-in-the-dark wand" which should not be added in addition to an otherwise identical "Majisto the Wizard" entry.

Exceptions:

When the use of set instructions or other official LEGO images provide poor clues about the precise nature of accessories: For example, numbers printed on neckgear armor worn by each figure of a series, yet nowhere is it clearly shown which figure bears which numbered armor. In this case the figures can be added without neckgear armor. Arbitrarily associating a particular numbered armor with the other elements of a minifig should not be done.

When the hand held accessory is an integral physical part of the minifig: For example, the electric light-up figs released beginning in 2005. All the parts that make up the complete light-up device, including those not integral to its electric function, should be included as a part of the minifig.

When there is more than one possibility presented within a set for decoration of the minifig by sticker, a catalog entry should not be created for each variation. This rule also applies to the Torso and Torso Assembly parts of such minifigs. For example, some Soccer theme sets have a sticker sheet that allows the builder to choose from various team insignias and jersey numbers for each player in the set. If every variation were given an entry, the catalog would be overwhelmed.

The early “stiff” minifigs (1975-1977) were often built into the model and not shown in a freestanding position. In these cases, a minifig can be considered a unit without being prescribed as such in the instructions or box images as long as the four basic parts are present – legs, torso, head and hat/hair.

Minifig Torsos and Minifig Torso Assemblies - Please make every effort to supply corresponding part numbers and part names for related items. If the Torso number is 973pb500 then the first related Torso Assembly composed of that Torso, two arms, and two hands, would be numbered 973pb500c01. The first part of a Torso Assembly name describes the pattern on the Torso itself and should be given exactly as the Torso itself is named. The remainder of a Torso Assembly name describes the arm color(s) and then the hand color(s).

Please refer to the guidelines above regarding whole minifigs. The Exception item which prohibits separate catalog entries for each possibility of a stickered minifig from a particular set is also a prohibition against separate entries for the Torso and Torso Assembly parts of such minifigs.

Decorated Minifig Hips and Legs - Submission of entries for the separate component parts of a printed Minifig, Legs Assembly item is currently discouraged except under certain circumstances. Those are 1) an administrative judgment that the minifig involved is significant in some way, and 2) the general design of the minifig involved is produced in both printed and unprinted legs assembly versions.

Wheel and Tire Assemblies - Only submit entries that are composed of a wheel and tire as they are matched in use by an official LEGO set. Other combinations of wheel and tire are possible but such matches should instead be submitted as an entry or addition to an entry in the Tire on Wheel Fit type of relationship match.

Set Collections or "Kits" - Please limit submissions of multi-set Set entries to ways that LEGO itself is known to have packaged and distributed such things, including sets released as promotional items through other companies.

Items that should not be added to the catalog:

Items which you do not possess or have physical proof of - Do not submit items which are rumored to exist or items which are being produced but have not yet been released, even if images are available. This also applies to undecorated versions of parts that are normally only decorated. Submissions made too far in advance of expected or reported release are subject to summary rejection. Things such as LEGO Dealer Catalogs, which provide information to retailers several months before item release, do not necessarily provide admissible evidence of production. Also, do not submit items which have been verified as never released, even if a picture is available.

Intellectual property belonging to other sites - Do not submit images or data gleaned from other sites. Exceptions are items listed on official LEGO sites and other items of an historic nature where the ownership is for all practical purposes untraceable.

Original Instructions - The system automatically adds / updates / deletes the corresponding original instruction entry for every set that is added to the catalog. Original Instructions should therefore not be added to the catalog. You may find that some set entries do not have an instruction entry. This is because those sets have been noted as not actually containing instructions. If the set does not have a corresponding instruction entry and you are certain that the set has instructions, then you can add the instructions to the set by submitting a Catalog Change Request.

Original Boxes - The system automatically adds / updates / deletes the corresponding original box entry for every set that is added to the catalog. Original Boxes should therefore not be added to the catalog.

Duplicate items to effectuate a change to an existing catalog entry - For example, if an item in the catalog has the part number "dupdino" and you possess an actual LEGO design or part number for this item, such as "12345", do not submit a new catalog entry for this item with the number "12345". Instead, alert the administrators to change the number for the existing catalog entry by posting to the
Catalog Requests Discussion Forum topic or by using the Catalog Change Request form.

Duplicate items to effectuate a Cross-Theme Duplicates relationship match - Instead, a suggestion to give an item duplicate entries in different categories, to facilitate finding it in the catalog, may be posted to the Catalog Requests Discussion Forum topic.

Individual stickers from a sheet with more than one sticker on it.

Different sizes for T-Shirts and Shoes, etc. in the Gear section - Add only one entry per pattern per item of Human Clothing. Sellers are responsible for describing details such as size in their listings, and buyers are responsible for asking for details if none are provided.

Part Combinations - For example 2, 3, or 4 bricks stacked together should not be added to the catalog as there are virtually infinite possibilities for these combinations.

Body parts from Belville and Fabuland Figures - The catalog currently does not maintain entries for individual component body parts of these figures.

Large part assemblies. - Large assemblies of parts that can be built into figures, vehicles, or other structures often comprise a substantial portion of a set and should not be added to the catalog. An exception has been made in the past for some DUPLO vehicles representing fictional characters and some other large assemblies with the Item Number prefix "spa" which were added as experiment.

I made a submission, but now...

I get an error message saying the item is already in the catalog, but I know it isn't.Someone has already submitted an item using the same number and it is pending approval. If you used an actual LEGO item number, please do not modify it in order to have your item entry successfully uploaded. If the item is a Set, check your submission information and/or the current catalog to see if you have selected the next available BrickLink suffix number. Since LEGO has produced different sets under the same number, you may have to select "-2" instead of "-1" for example.

Where do I see my pending items?In My Activity Overview, under the Non-Commercial Contributions heading, Pending link next to "Catalog Items Added".

How do I modify my pending items?See the Changing Pending Items help topic for more info on how to modify or delete your pending items.

I check my submission and see some remarks in parentheses added to the item name.During the approval process, the Catalog Admins may add notes or questions about your submission directly to the item entry. These are communications among the Catalog Admins about your submission. You are welcome to respond to the notes or questions yourself by contacting the Catalog Admins or by contacting a particular Catalog Admin or by posting in the Forum. The author of a remark will typically identify themself by the initials of their real name at the end of the remark.

It is taking forever to get approved.When an item is submitted to the catalog we must:

determine what it is and verify its existence

verify that is has been officially released or that release is imminent

determine accuracy of description and modify if necessary

make sure it has the proper number (matched if practical to Peeron or LDraw numbers)

make sure it is in the proper category

check that it isn't already in the catalog

Occasionally aspects of these details result in prolonged discussion between the Catalog Admins, but rest assured the submission has not been forgotten.

It's gone and I know I used the right LEGO number, so why was it deleted?Did you submit it as the wrong item type (for example, a Set as a Part or a
Part as a Set)?

It's gone and I know I used the right numbering convention for this kind of part, so why was it deleted?Did you also use a pattern suffix in the number that indicates origin on another site, yet the item you submitted does not match what the other site shows for that pattern number?